Marketing 'less harmful, low-tar' cigarettes is a key strategy of the industry to counter tobacco control in China

Abstract

While the 'low-tar' scheme has been widely recognised as a misleading tactic used by the tobacco industry to deceive the public about the true risks of cigarette smoking, a similar campaign using the slogan of 'less harmful, low tar' was launched by the Chinese tobacco industry, that is, State Tobacco Monopoly Administration/China National Tobacco Corporation and began to gain traction during the last decade. Despite the fact that no sufficient research evidence supports the claims made by the industry that these cigarettes are safer, the Chinese tobacco industry has continued to promote them using various health claims. As a result, the production and sales of 'less harmful, low-tar' cigarettes have increased dramatically since 2000. Recently, a tobacco industry senior researcher, whose main research area is 'less harmful, low-tar' cigarettes, was elected as an Academician to the prestigious Chinese Academy of Engineering for his contribution to developing 'less harmful, low-tar' cigarettes. The tobacco researcher's election caused an outcry from the tobacco control community and the general public in China. This paper discusses the Chinese tobacco industry's 'less harmful, low-tar' initiatives and calls for the Chinese government to stop the execution of this deceptive strategy for tobacco marketing.

Keywords: Harm Reduction; Low/Middle income country; Public policy; Tobacco industry.

Figure 1

Certification of National Scientific and Technological Progress Award with Bio-Reducing Technology of Cigarettes on the WU YE SHEN cigarettes website.

Figure 2

Cigarette products of Chinese Tobacco Industry, 1952–2011 (data source: Network of Industry in China, http://www.chinair.org/data/D08/201007/01-46830.htm/).

Figure 3

Awareness that low-tar cigarettes are as harmful to health as regular cigarettes by education.

Figure 4

Awareness that low-tar cigarettes are as harmful to health as regular cigarettes by occupation.

Figure 5

The visible figures of tar content are marked on the front of cigarette packs in China (source: collected and provided by the author).